“Take’s film powerfully shows that the heroism of the art of boxing lies in the very subjective meaning that power the jabs, the hooks, and the uppercuts.”
Dec 14, 2021 • Subscribe
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The Tyranny of the Anime Underdog
I was watching a Sports! anime the other day, like one does, and something really odd happened. Something that almost never happens. The main characters’ team was up…
Should the Underdog Always Win in Anime?
My recent Unpopular Opinions post, specifically the question asking about “a trope that I’m tired of” or something along those lines, left me wanting to write more about…
Sympathy for the Underdog (博徒外人部隊, Kinji Fukasaku, 1971)
A displaced post-war gangster relocates to Okinawa where the conditions of the occupation are stil very much in play in Fukasaku’s proto-jitsuroku yakuza drama
Review: Synesthete (2021)
Synesthete 越界 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 80 mins. Director: Liang Honghua 梁鸿华. Rating: 3/10. An interesting idea never comes to fruition in this messy, low-budget ghost movie with…
Blue (2021) review
“A very emotional journey about the difficulties of dealing with loss and lack.”
Homunculus (2021) review
“A worthy attempt to offer something fresh to the horror-table, but Shimizu struggles to blend the many pleasing parts into a whole that truly engages and pleases the…
Review: Shallow (2021)
Shallow 出拳吧妈妈 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 95 mins. Director: Tang Xiaobai 唐晓白. Rating: 6/10. Despite a few shortcomings in the script, under-rated Mainland actress Tan Zhuo throws herself…
Review: Secret (2021)
Secret 秘不可言 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 90 mins. Director: Cao Yong 曹涌 [Cao Yong 曹勇]. Rating: 5/10. Intriguing, well-mounted psychodrama-cum-mystery starts well but becomes scarcely credible later on.…
Review: Yanagawa (2021)
Yanagawa 漫长的告白 China, 2021, colour, 1.85:1, 112 mins. Director: Zhang Lv 张律. Rating: 3/10. More accessible than most of Zhang Lv’s features, this indie confection is still a…
Character (2021) review
It might not be a film that challenges or subverts the tropes and dynamic of the mystery and thriller genre, but it sure does deliver a satisfying and…
February 2021 Review
Ah, February is here and thus another traditional post to be done-a review focused on character relationships and/or romance. Hard to believe I have done reviews of this…
Frantic (2021) review
“Fuji delivers his best movie yet and, quite possibly, the cult-film of the year.”
2021 in Review
The world continues to go to hell in a handbasket. The pandemic continues to rage. The world supply chain is borked. Inflation is rampant. W...
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March 2021 Review
You know, I have never been too keen on superheroes. Not much a comics guy, nothing against them, but just never struck my interest. Hell out of the…
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Goto-san (2021) review [OAFF 2021]
“Gokan expertly reveals the position of the freeter as an attempt to escape the capitalistic machinery but also as a position that most easily falls prey to the…
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Sweet Bitter Candy (2021) review [OAFF 2021]
“An amazing exploration of the clash between a sweet youthful romantic desire and the bitter urge of a wounded subject to defend his subjective wounds.”
Review: Cliff Walkers (2021)
Cliff Walkers 悬崖之上 China/Hong Kong, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 119 mins. Director: Zhang Yimou 张艺谋. Rating: 6/10. Period spy adventure, set in Japanese-occupied northeast China during the 1930s, is…
Review: Never Stop (2021)
Never Stop 超越 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 96 mins. Director: Han Bowen 韩博文. Rating: 6/10. Mainland actor Zheng Kai is impressive as a onetime sports star, though the…
Masquerade Night (2021) review
A pleasant and entertaining narrative that is ultimately victim of the demand to be consumable for as many spectators as possible.
Review: Embrace Again (2021)
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Skeleton Flowers (2021) review
A serene narrative that touchingly explores the possibility of reaching each other as subject despite the misrecognition that structures speech.
Moonlight Shadow (2021) review
“One of the most touching explorations of the inability to mourn and what can enable the subject to embark on the journey of saying goodbye.”
Review: The Pioneer (2021)
The Pioneer 革命者 China, 2021, colour/b&w, 16:9/2.35:1, 120 mins. Director: Xu Zhanxiong 徐展雄. Rating: 5/10. Biopic of CCP co-founder Li Dazhao is way above the genre’s routine level…
Year in review 2021
As I sit at my desk typing up this long overdue post, I’m reflecting on all that has changed over these last 6 months. Normally this post would…
Review: Cloudy Mountain (2021)
Cloudy Mountain 峰爆 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 113 mins. Director: Li Jun 李骏. Rating: 6/10. By-the-book disaster movie starts gangbusters but then becomes more cartoony and unbelievable. STORY…
Review: Knock Knock (2021)
Knock Knock 不速来客 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 104 mins. Director: Liu Xiang 刘翔. Rating: 7/10. Lightly comic crime puzzler, set in a grubby flat, holds the attention thanks…
Review: Daily Fantasy (2021)
Daily Fantasy 日常幻想指南 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 97 mins. Director: Liang Dong 梁栋. Rating: 4/10. Ambling, pointless fantasy about a professional thief who suddenly has the ability to…
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Review: Island Keeper (2021)
Island Keeper 守岛人 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 124 mins. Director: Chen Li 陈力. Rating: 6/10. Well-played drama, based on a real-life story, of a couple on a lonely…
Zokki (2021) [Film Review]
Zokki; or, Too Many Secrets Lately, I've been thinking. If a living creature loses what it keeps secret, maybe it can't go on living. O...
Halloween 2021 Review (Yamishibai)
As we turn to October, and the leaves fall and shadows creep in, we tend to seek out stuff to give us thrills and chills. As such, I…
Review: Manchurian Tiger (2021)
Manchurian Tiger 东北虎 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 117 mins. Director: Geng Jun 耿军. Rating: 6/10. Phlegmatic, black character comedy, set in wintry northeast China, overstays its initial welcome.…
Review: Railway Heroes (2021)
Railway Heroes 铁道英雄 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 122 mins. Director: Yang Feng 杨枫. Rating: 8/10. Crackerjack wartime resistance movie is a cut above the rest, made with a…
Review: Hi Brother (2021)
Hi Brother 二哥来了怎么办 China, 2021, colour, 1.85/2.35:1, 104 mins. Director: Zheng Fenfen 郑芬芬. Rating: 6/10. Comedy-drama about feuding siblings is similar to the same director’s Go Brother – and…
Cube (2021) [Film Review]
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Review: Embrace Again (2021)
Embrace Again 穿过寒冬拥抱你 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 123 mins. Director: Xue Xiaolu 薛晓路. Rating: 5/10. “Inspirational” light drama, about volunteers in Wuhan during the Covid lockdown, is rescued…
Spring 2021 in Review
This past anime season, counting holdovers from the Winter 2021 season, I watched 26 anime. Of those, I completed 22. Normally, we at the Backloggers would do an…
Review: Chinese Doctors (2021)
Chinese Doctors 中国医生 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 127 mins. Director: Liu Weiqiang 刘伟强 [Andrew Lau]. Rating: 6/10. Wuhan-set Covid drama has a propulsive, convincing first half but slacker,…
The Family (2021) review
“A highly original yakuza narrative that beautifully touches upon the importance that the (idealized) figure of the father can have for a subject’s lifepath.”
Grenadier Review (July 2021)
So, as we near the 10 year anniversary of me writing about anime on the web, we hit upon another tradition, that of exploring guilty pleasures of anime,…
Review: Tempting Hearts (2021)
Tempting Hearts 有一点动心 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 93 mins. Directors: Chen Jiashang 陈嘉上 [Gordon Chan], Zhu Xuefei 朱雪菲. Rating: 6/10. Offbeat, soso-scripted rom-com depends a lot on its…
Review: Ultimate Code (2021)
Ultimate Code 终极代码 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 89 mins. Chief director: Wu Zhiting 吴治廷. Director: Li Ke 李柯. Associate directors: Zhang Lizhi 张立志, Xiong Chunsheng 熊春生 [Xiong Jie…
August 2021 Review (Shirobako)
When I started this 10 years ago, blogging served as a way to pass the time when I went back to tech school for additional study to improve…
Review: Between Us (2021)
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Baby Assassins (2021) review
“One of the most satisfying Japanese action films of this year.”
Make-Believers (2021) review
“Kenjo McCurtain mixes the right elements into a musical romantic cocktail that is both heartfelt and deeply satisfying.”
Food Luck (2021) review
“An unbalanced one that cannot truly touch or engage the spectator.”
The Women (2021) review
“A narrative with many beautiful touching moments but not a satisfying whole.”
Review: Manchurian Tiger (2021)
Manchurian Tiger 东北虎 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 117 mins. Director: Geng Jun 耿军. Rating: 6/10. Phlegmatic, black character comedy, set in wintry northeast China, overstays its initial welcome.…
Review: Lie Detector (2021)
Lie Detector 测谎人 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 91 mins. Director: Yang Yuanhan 杨沅翰. Late-stage director: Qian Guowei 钱国伟. Rating: 5/10. Wry, well-cast comedy about two opposites disappointingly fails…
Review: Farewell Beijing (2021)
Farewell Beijing 您好，北京 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 107 mins. Director: Cao Xixi 曹茜茜. Rating: 5/10. Interwoven stories of three Big City wannabes jogs along okay but is unoriginal…